Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London

This Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London formed
a portion of the Register-book of that fraternity.
As was usual for London Chronicles, it starts with the
reign of Richard the First, that being the date from
which the roll of chief magistrates, at first termed
Bailiffs, had been preserved.

The Chronicle is primarily arranged in reigns, and the years
are numbered by those reigns, but the period of time
included in each year starts with the London mayoralty
at the end of October, and the events which follow belong
not only to the two following months of that year, but also
to the next year until the end of October, and to a
portion of the next year of the reign, according as the
date of the accession of the monarch varied from that of the
Mayor's entrance into office.

It is towards the end of the reign of Henry the Eighth
that this Chronicle begins to have a character of its
own. The writer had a watchful regard to the religious
changes of the times, and he naturally recorded those in
particular which occurred within the sphere of his
personal observation, in the city of London, and in the
metropolitan church of St. Paul.

He appears to have retained possession of the book
after the dissolution of the house of Grey Friars, and
the dismissal of the rest of his fraternity; and from
that time he continued his record in pursuance of his old
habits. It is therefore not to the Grey Friars as a body, that
the historical value that exists in the Chronicle, can be
attributed, but rather to the individual writer who
was probably the last of the London
Franciscans. However, there is no evidence as to his
name or position. From his frequent notices of
Saint Paul's it is probable that he had some
official connection with the cathedral church; but the
close vicinity of his residence would also provide
similar opportunities of observation.